32:7 At least one person took notice of what Moses said. (Psalm 143:5)

Vs.1-43 Song was used as a medium by the Israelites, mainly for praise.  The term song is certainly descriptive of the poetic domain, although the text was not necessarily set to music. 

Here, Moses has the nation learn a song as a memorial concerning obedience and disobedience.  It would serve as an indictment should the nation stray.  It will also serve as a remembrance in the Kingdom (Rev 15:3). 

Other notable songs were: Moses' praise for deliverance from Pharaoh (Exo 15); Moses and Israel at the provision of water (Num 21:16,17); the deliverance of Israel by Deborah and Barak (Judg 5:12); David when he was delivered from Saul (2Sam 22:1). 

Of course the Psalms, which were largely composed by David, were songs sung by a choir and accompanied by instruments.  The Song of Solomon, which we have just read, was a song of intimate, exotic poetry. Jesus and His disciples sang a song of praise (Matt 24:30); and the redeemed will sing a new song before Yahweh in the Kingdom (Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3).  We will now read Isaiah's song about Yahweh and His vineyard in Is.5.

32:11     The analogy of God caring for His people in the same way that an eagle teaches her young to fly is most appropriate as a way to describe God’s care for His people.  The eagle pushes the young out of the nest to teach them to fly – flying under them to prevent them from falling to the ground. So when the young is flying by itself no help is given but when the bird begins to fall the parent flies underneath to support it.  So the bird learns what it can do and cannot do and so gains confidence. Of course it has implicit trust in its parent. God ‘proves’ His children but does not leave them to their fate unaided. John 6:6 etc:

32:4-5 Notice the contrast. God is ‘just and holy’ the people were ‘perverse and crooked’. God will dwell with the humble and contrite – Isa 66:2 – Israel’s behaviour jeopardised their fellowship with their God. What about us?

32:1   The call to the earth and heavens to ‘hear’ is spoken of by Isaiah – 1:2 – to God’s people to remind them that they had fallen far short of their high calling as Moses lays out here.

V.10 The expression apple of his eye signifies someone or something favoured. Today we use it in our language more in reference to people than to things. The term apple, as in the fruit, is not applicable though.   Ps. 17:8 and Prov. 7:2 also use the word ishon which means pupil (of the eye); Lam. 2:18 uses bat which means daughter (of Zion); Zec. 2:8 uses baba which could also signify pupil. The idea of using the idea of pupil is that it is always central to one's observation (focus of attention) whichever way one turns. (See my note for Ps.17 on Jan 7 for further explanation).

V.7 History has its place in teaching a current generation. For us, the events in the whole Bible (OT and NT) are there to teach us (Rom 15:4).

V.8 After the flood there was a new beginning on earth.  The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth became the fathers of people from three broad regions (See Gen 10:1,5; Acts 17:26):

-Shem means name, and it is from Shem comes the term Semitic, which includes Jews and Arabs.  Apart from the chosen people Israel and its Arab cousins, Shem also covers those in Asia.

-Ham means black in Arabic, and it is from Ham that the people of Africa hailed.

-Japheth means fair, and it is from him that Europeans derived.  

V.15 The name Jeshurun (Heb. yashar) means righteous people which is the ideal objective for Israel’s character.

V.49 Abarim was the mountain range which contained notably the Mts. Nebo, Pisgah, and Peor.

As already indicated (Chapter 1) Psalm 80 is appealed to when speaking of the vineyard. Actually there are a number of echoes both from the earlier books of the Bible and in later books from this chapter.

Israel was not a good steward in the vineyard of Yahweh, and so it was taken away vigorously.  We are working in Yahweh's vineyard at the present time.  How is our stewardship?  The parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30) is worth reviewing. 

5:25  Here we have the beginning of a recurring phrase in Isaiah. ‘For all that his anger is not turned away, but his hand is outstretched still’. Marking, over and over again that whilst God will not tolerate Israel’s sinfulness He is till willing to recover them if they repent.

V.4 Everything possible has been provided and done for the salvation of God's people. The comparison is made by the prophet, of a keeper of a vineyard who does everything possible in the vineyard to produce good fruit, but his harvest is wild fruit. What a disappointment at the time of the harvest.

V.13,26 - this prophesies God's people going into exile and the use of Babylon and Rome as punishing agents by God. Approximately 150 years after this writing Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem in 587 BC. Later, in 73 AD, Rome sacked Jerusalem.

5:2God ‘planted’ Israel in the same way in which He ‘planted’ a garden – Gen 2:8. God is the gardener. We are His plants.

V.8 The restoration of property in the year of jubilee was not respected (Lev 25:13).  Greed for gain had overtaken many to the detriment of justice (Mic 2:2).

Vs.1-7 Compare with Jesus' parable of the vineyard (Mark 12:1-11). Israel was not a good steward of Yahweh's vineyard in Isaiah's day. Therefore, He took away its hedge (His protection) and allowed the Babylonians to destroy the vineyard. The same disregard was shown by Israel in Christ's time. Yahweh took away the hedge and allowed the Romans to destroy the vineyard.

5:5 The ‘song’ of the first few verses of this chapter speak of the destruction of Jerusalem - |Jesus explains that this is what it is speaking about in Luke 20:9. The phrase ‘trodden down’ in this verse is part of the basis for Jesus’ words in Luke 21:24

V.10 The word acres comes from the Hebrew word tsemed which means yoke.  One acre (tsemed) is the amount of land a pair of oxen could plough in one day. The land covered by ten days of ploughing would yield only one bath (7.5 gallons- 33.75 liters) of wine.  And a homer of seed would yield only an ephah of produce.  This is not much when an ephah is one tenth of a homer.  It is like paying $10 to get back $1. Incidentally, the ephah and bath are both pegged at one tenth of a homer (Eze 45:11).

5:5 The language ‘break down’ to describe what would happen to the ‘vine’ – which is Israel – picks up on the Psa 80:12 – where the Psalmist has already spoken of how God will treat his ‘vine (80:8).

Here is the list of links with Ephesians. We should consider how the needs of the two ecclesias are similar and why.

Here are a few more quotations to add to Bro. Peter's list above:

Col 2:6-7.These two verses sum up the message of the letter. The emphasis is on Christ. To accept the truths relating to Jesus meant that they had to live in Him. Christ said “I am the way, the truth, and the life” To serve God acceptably involved following the way that Christ opened up. They must be moving with Christ and also be occupied in Him. Paul uses the example of a root of a plant or tree. The figure of roots brings out the idea that a believer’s spiritual life is a living organism which requires nourishment. The health, the very life of a plant depends upon its roots. In the parable of the sower, Christ makes mention of those who had no roots only endured for a short time. We all must take root in the soil provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Col 2:11.The Greek word 554 “Apekduomai”  is only used in this letter,
      2:11.  Off
      2:15.  Spoiled
      3:9.    Put off
They are all related, and are concerned with the same fundamental thing, that is the crucifixion of the flesh. Christ possessed a body of flesh and blood, He was exposed to the same temptations as each one of us. Yet He did no sin. Each one of passages brings out the association of the believer with Christ.

Col 2:21. It appears that these rules in the original Greek would have been in reverse order than they appear in the A.V. It is worth noting that “handle” is a much stronger word than “touch”. Handle has a meaning of “have nothing to do with” while touch is just what it says.

V.18  The forbidden practice of worshipping angels is carried on today by some, in a similar fashion, in worshipping so-called patron saints.

V.20  We should be careful not to allow (or impose) the principles of this world to dictate our behavior as members of Christ's body.

2:1  The ‘conflict’ that Paul had to the Colossian brethren and sisters was ‘care’ as can be seen from the marginal rendering of the word translated ‘conflict’

2:16 We might think that reverting to the law was simply a matter of observing the details of the Law of Moses. Indeed it is. Paul, however, makes a most interesting comments saying they are ‘a shadow of things to come’. We know that there is to be a reinstitution of elements of the law of Moses in the kingdom. However it seems that Paul is saying that these things should not be observed now because they are a shadow of a future time.

It’s interesting to note that the word “fullness” is from the same root as “complete” in Col 2:9,10. In other words, this is the answer of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:23 God is in Jesus, and Jesus is in us. God is in Jesus, and Jesus is in us.

2:13     The idea of being ‘dead in sin’ is a repeated New Testament theme. Consider Eph 2:1,13

2:13    The idea of being ‘dead in sin’ is a repeated New Testament theme. Consider Eph 2:1,13

2:7 Paul mixes two different ideas here. ‘Rooted’ is from the plant life sort of description whilst ‘built up’ speaks of the completion of a building. Of course both metaphors are true f the growth of a believer. Paul is bringing together both elements into a description of spiritual development in Christ.

2:19  In speaking of the way that the believers should unite with Jesus saying ‘knit together’ Paul is returning to what he said in 2:2